


Turncoat

by GoneRampant



Category: RWBY
Genre: Amber deserved better, Leo should have been a snake faunus amiright, Qrow and Amber are the BroTP, Two Shot, Volume 5 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-14 16:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13594251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoneRampant/pseuds/GoneRampant
Summary: Leo sold out many Huntsmen to Salem's forces over the years. For one of these sacrifices in particular, every action resulted in an equal and opposite reaction. (Lionheart focused two-shot)





	1. Chapter 1

_**Turncoat** _

**Haven Academy:**

* * *

Leonardo always took a small pleasure in being able to lecture. Allowing the next generation of Huntsmen to learn was perhaps the best he could offer them. A good teacher tried to get to know the students, to help with their problems. As such, he felt proud knowing that he could usually memorize the faces of his students. 

(Really, Leo thought sometimes, he became a Huntsman just so he could retire and become a teacher)

But the student who had arrived late one Friday, wearing a white blouse with a green cape, was a new addition. He would have normally brushed this off as just a new transfer student, but the end of the semester was nearing. At least she wasn't slacking off or being a hindrance to the class, just quietly observing. She did look to be older than the average student from what he could see.

Leo returned to his lecture on Aura. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair, and he looked up to see one of the windows ajar. About ten minutes from the end of the lecture, his words were cut short by a rude flapping sound. A pitch-black crow dove right through the window, landing by the new student and perching on her shoulder. Leo was about to cough pointedly and continue when, as she pulled some bread crumbs out of a pocket for the crow, the girl's eyes shone for a second with a short blaze of fire.

That killed Leo's thought process entirely. He blanched for a moment, tempted to scream at the Maiden for her recklessness in displaying the powers outside of a life or death situation. But he caught himself, hopefully before he caught the attention of a certain other student here with amber eyes. Leo was many things, hopefully he would never be a hypocrite. He sighed quietly.

"Class dismissed, have a good weekend." Leo said and packed his items while the students left, filling the room with chatter. The room cleared quickly, leaving the Huntress, Leonardo and the crow on her shoulder.

"Come with me to my office," he said formally as he walked by her.

The girl pushed some hair behind her ears as she strolled after him. A scent filled his nose, of leaves in the autumn, a crisp night saturated with rain from early in the day, and frost rising through the soil. Leo hadn't met a Maiden in years, so he forgot how they seemed to almost radiate power. Huntsmen did this too, but on a much smaller level. Leo could feel it from the crow, which had its head tilted at him as they walked down the narrow hallway into his office. Leo glanced back once again into his previously spacious office, now significantly more cramped. The office was large, semi-circular and awash with the colours of autumn. From the leaf-green throw rugs scattered about the floor to the same color cushions on the varnished wooden furniture. Bookcases stood on either side of the entryway.

To the right sat a small tea table and chairs for guests, to the left was a couch, and arched windows lined an entire wall of the office, painting the interior with yellow rectangles of mid-afternoon light. Whatever space on the desk that wasn't set aside for a small mug of coffee or a half-eaten plate of food had been occupied by stacks of documents. Loose leaf papers and manila folders were stacked in haphazard columns by the desk or shelved in what spare space the bookcases offered, along with other memos.

Leo locked the door after him, breathing a little easier. He heard a whoosh behind him, and he turned to see Qrow sitting on his desk, sharing a high five and a dry chuckle with the Maiden. 

"Qrow." Leo began. He could already feel a headache coming on. "Must you be so… yourself?"

"What can I say Leo?" Qrow said with a smirk. "We're talking about me, you should expect to be disappointed."

"I suppose I didn't expect you to encourage a Maiden to use her powers in public. I assumed that as a spymaster you knew about a little thing called  _tact._ " Leonardo snapped back. He stopped, took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I know no one was hurt, but we need to value secrecy, Qrow."

"I know, Leo." Qrow said, getting off the table and offering his hand to Leo. "Alright, I'm sorry. No harm no foul anyway, right?"

"I suppose." Leo said. They shook hands before Leo moved to his desk, observing the woman who had moved to a pillar. "And you must be the Fall Maiden. A pleasure to make your acquaintance…"

"Amber. Amber Aestivum," she replied smoothly, flashing him a smile. They shook hands and Leo almost jumped a little when a small spark jumped from her palm to his. "Your school is quite lovely."

"Thank you. We're not as advanced as Beacon in some areas, but I hope that we try." Leo said, taking a seat at his desk, eyes meeting hers. She was carrying herself with that energy every Maiden seemed to carry, something that made them seem just a little… different. More than just the power that they radiated, Maidens were like a strip of white in a dot of cream in a monochrome painting; on the surface just another part of the scenery until you looked closer. He could see it in Amber's eyes when she looked away and her eyes glazed over for a brief second. Some Maidens had more trouble sorting through the remnants of past lives that they inherited- some only received fragments of memories, a scent on the wind or a feeling of a lover's kiss on their hand- while others could receive entire personalities and memories. From the way Amber's hand shook a little as she ran a hand along one of the many bookcases Leo had in his office, a part of him thought that one such memory had reared its head. She closed her eyes, exhaled harshly, and her hand stilled.

Qrow looked over, head tilted, but Amber caught his gaze and shook her head quickly.

"Well then," Leo said as Qrow relaxed, "to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Qrow?"

"We're actually bound for Atlas." Qrow replied, uncapping his flask. "Old Ironwood wants to run some Aura experiments or something and Amber here volunteered." Qrow's li curled. "I'm keeping an eye on her, teaching the kid a few things along the way. We were hoping to borrow an airship and just fly over."

"Was Ozpin alright with this?" Leo said, raising an eyebrow. "I had assumed he would wish to keep a Maiden under lock and key. Also, why couldn't he or General Ironwood just tell me about this experiment so I could provide you with safe transport to Atlas?"

The two hesitated.

"That's…" Qrow started, taking an awkward sip.

"A very funny story…" Amber said dryly.

Leo looked between the two of them, the headache getting worse. "Ozpin doesn't know you left, does he?" He said flatly. "And this entire story about Atlas is also a lie, isn't it?" The two flinched and Leo groaned.  _"Qrow."_

"Well, if he didn't before, he probably knows by now!" Amber said with false cheer.

"You did kinda blow down a few walls in your breakout," Qrow muttered.

Amber rolled her eyes and shot a look at Qrow. "The CCT needed a new lobby anyway."

Leo sighed quietly. "You remain a stellar influence around young people, Qrow." Leo had no idea how Qrow had not yet been fired from Signal.

"In his defence…" Amber said, showing a catlike smirk for a second, "I've always been kind of an asshole. Also,  _I_  kinda kidnapped  _him_?"

"'Go on an adventure Qrow,' you said. 'It'll be lots of fun,' you said. You coulda just  _told_  me you were bored and wanted to get out and wander for a few weeks, heck I'd have helped you." Qrow said. 

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of that." Leo said dryly. "So I would assume that if I get a call from Ozpin soon regarding any potential missing Maidens, I would be best to ignore it?"

"You're a lifesaver Leo." Qrow's sarcastic smirk turned genuine for a few seconds before pocketing his drink. "Though, I did want to ask another favour-"

"You need transport?" Leo said. 

"Walking's fun, but slow and hell on our boots." Qrow replied. "'Sides, even if you do lie, Oz is gonna clue in and I'd like to try and shorten the lecture we're bound to get when I bring Amber back to Vale. So basically, yes, if there's any airships that are bound for Vale soon, think you could get us aboard all hush-hush?"

Leo frowned and brought up his terminal. "Most of the airships for the next two weeks are all pre-booked, thanks to the semester finishing up soon. If you want to fly home  _without_  arousing suspicion." Leo said. He stopped to glare at Qrow. "You'll either be sitting around for several weeks or you'll have to venture to another town with an airship and hope for the best."

"Sit around and twiddle our thumbs for two weeks or head to a nearby village? I think this choice makes itself." Amber said.

"Your best bet would be to head down to Shion, then. They have an operational airship that frequently flies to ports in Vale." Leo said, pausing. "I'll arrange for some transport to help you get there, but that will take a day or two. I can secure lodgings in the city if that suits?"

"Always wanted to see Haven for myself," Amber said, tapping her chin. "And it's the last I'm probably gonna see of a city for a while I'd wager."

"At least Ironwood isn't overseeing your security. Then you'd be lucky if you weren't put in a prison cell," Qrow muttered. He went for the door. "Alright Leo, thanks for the help. We'll see you around."

"And make sure we get separate rooms!" Amber said, turning to Leo. "If I have to listen to this birdbrain snore again, I'll take a lightning bolt to someone."

Qrow scoffed. "That's a fancy way of saying you don't want me finding out about your one-night-stands."

Amber rolled her eyes before walking over to Leo's desk. "It was a pleasure to meet you Professor."

Leo put on a grandfatherly smile for Amber when she shook his hand before she darted after Qrow. When the door closed the smile melted away as his face went into his hands, a low groan of despair catching in his throat.

With shaking hands, Leo pulled up the security footage for his office and took a picture of Amber before transferring it to his scroll. From there he called up a number and held his breath before it answered.

" _Leo. To what do I owe the pleasure?"_  The voice of the woman who had been haunting his nightmares for the past several months answered, causing a shiver to race down Leo's spine.

"We need to speak, immediately. Bring your… acolytes and meet me in my office."

" _And why would I do that?"_

"Because the Fall Maiden was just in here and I can tell you _exactly_ where she'll be in three days."

Leo could hear Cinder's breath catch and a small part of him took pleasure at finally flat-footing Salem's agent.

" _I'll be there in ten minutes."_  She said, voice almost cracking with raw emotion. Not with passion or surprise, but hunger. Like a starving man brought to a feast.  _"Thank you Leonardo. You have truly proven your value. Salem will be pleased."_  A dull click sounded from the scroll as Cinder hung up.

As the sun began to fall for the night, Leo stood at the window. He'd had to do this before, tipping off Salem's agents on where they could find more troublesome Huntsmen. This was just the first time he had to look one of them in the eyes while he signed their death warrant. But Leo had already crossed the threshold of no return. What was one more body on the pile when you kept dealing with the devil?

There was no point fighting Salem. That was what he told himself every night when he tried to sleep and he heard the voices of the dead Huntsmen.

* * *

**Aestivum is the taxonomical name for common wheat.**

**I had the idea a few weeks before the finale that Leo likely sold out Amber and that was how Cinder was able to track her down. So this is that idea getting written.**

**Hope you like it, comments are love and all that. Have a good one.**


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eye for an eye, life for a life.

_“Your sister was a recent edition. The lion on the other hand…”_

_“Leonardo’s been sending Salem all sorts of information for a very,_ very _long time. Isn’t that right, Professor?”_

_“You sit on the Mistral Council. You had information on every Huntsman and Huntress in the Kingdom. And you gave it all to her. I couldn’t find any of them. Because you let her kill them!”_

Everything became chaotic after that once Arc charged that bitch in the red dress. Weiss got run through, Ruby nearly went all silver-eyed and the entire lobby of Haven Academy became a giant arena. Qrow _ached_ in a way he never had before thanks to Hazel’s strikes, like bones he didn’t even know he had had been broken. How his Aura hadn’t shattered yet was a miracle. No thanks to that snake Leo, who had been taking pot-shots at himself and Oscar- _Ozpin_ \- the entire fight before Ruby finally broke his Aura and he ran like a coward. Ruby and her teams were keeping Hazel and Cinder’s acolytes distracted for a moment, so Qrow took a moment to check on Oz. He was pushing the boy to his limit and beyond and that adrenaline that had kept him up this far was finally running out. He’d crash soon.

Oz caught Qrow’s look. “Go after Leo!” he gasped out. “We can’t let him leave the city.”

Qrow nodded quietly, tapping Ozpin on the back. He looked over at Ruby as she flew in between the illusionist and that smug silver-haired brat he’d seen a year prior in Mistral, while Yang and Nora slammed into Hazel with the force of a wrecking ball. She’d be fine, she had to be. She also had to be distracted. She didn’t need to see or hear what would happen next.

Qrow shifted, flying up past the staircase and landing in the hallway. He shifted back in an instant, rolling with the landing. His sword extended out as he jogged down the hallway, past cabinets with scriptures and trophies, over crimson red rugs. This hallway had been well lit when he had come through with RNJR but now the lights were dim, shadows cast over everything.

The door was open at the end of the hallway, showing Leo’s office. The man himself was being dragged towards a silent Seer Grimm that loomed overhead. Leo scrambled desperately on the floorboards as the appendages began to wrap around him, razor-sharp tips cutting narrow slices into Leo’s face. He screamed in desperation and fear, blind to the world as the grip tightened. Qrow almost left him there, almost content with just watching for the moment. But then a dark little voice began to whisper in the back of his mind.

Almost subconsciously, Qrow raised his shotgun and fired, the flechette rounds punching a baker’s dozen small holes in the Seer before it scattered into black dust. Leo was silent for a moment, just breathing in ragged gasps. Qrow entered the office, grabbing the key to the door where Leo had left it. He stood at the door after closing it behind him. Leo’s sobs covered the small click of the key sliding in and locking the door shut behind him.

“Qrow…” Leo got up onto one knee, looking over his shoulder at the last fragments of the Seer as they flittered away. Qrow didn’t speak. He breathed through his nose, tightening and loosening the grip on his sword. “Thank you, Qrow.”

That… tone. Fear was an undercurrent in Leo’s voice but now with a broken Aura and a weapon out of reach he was almost… sycophantic to Qrow. His fists clenched.

“Did you do it?”

“W-what?”

Qrow closed the distance, kicking Leo back into his desk. He hit it with a thud, eyes widening as Qrow’s sword tip hovered in front of his eyes.

“Amber. Did you tell Salem where to find her?”

Leo’s pupils dilated in obvious fear. A part of Qrow was slightly amused that he even had room to feel more fear. But most of him took Leo’s silence as answer enough.

“You sold out a _Maiden_ and let her attackers stay in your Academy as cover _._ That’s why you sent her and me to Shion, so that they could attack her.” Qrow’s eyes blazed in the low light of the office. “Everything that happened since- Cinder becoming a Maiden, the fall of Beacon, Ozpin’s death- that all happened because of that night. Everything that happened was _your fault._ ”

“Yes!” Leo snapped, voice cracking. “Fine, I sold out the Maiden, and all the other Huntsmen. But you were with her! I thought you could stop them. Why didn’t you? Blame me all you want, but the fact remains that not saving the Maiden is as much your fault as mine.”

Qrow’s sword wavered as he pondered Lionheart’s words. He had gone back other the day of the attack a thousand times. If he’d been a little faster, could he have saved Amber? Stopped Cinder’s plans dead in their tracks and prevented the fall of Beacon? It was nothing more than a flight of fancy that he had considered, one that had become more frequent in his mind since he began following RNJR along the same paths he had walked with Amber. It was all pointless to consider, he knew that. It was ultimately his own fault he had been behind Amber. Her wanderlust had grown as they neared Shion and it bean to dawn on Amber that she wouldn’t be free much longer, that Ozpin would ensure she was well protected for her safety. So, on that day she had stolen a horse and began to ride. Qrow found her letter on the nightstand in her room (they had separate rooms both to throw off anyone looking for a Maiden and their protector and because… well he was twice Amber’s age, the idea of sleeping with her was just disgusting) and darted out right away, his jog becoming a full-blown sprint when he heard gunfire and the roar of lightning.

And it wasn’t enough. He had one job and he failed miserably at it. Seeing Amber be reduced from the woman who practically floated with life and energy to a derelict shell barely able to breathe had been… difficult. Qrow fell back on old habits and vices, poured himself into work and became a wraith for over half a year.

“Maybe,” Qrow conceded through ground teeth, “maybe it is my fault that I didn’t save her. But you’re the man who put her in that position to begin with, and your excuses stink of bullshit since you decided not to tell me to watch out for an ambush. You’re trying to change how the past went so you can look yourself in the eye.” Qrow spat to the side in disgust. “At least the rest of Salem’s cabal have the decency to own their sins. You’re nothing but a revisionist.”

Leo shrank under the words, the spine he had exhibited fading away as fast as it materialized. “I did what I had to do,” he mumbled, “she would have killed me.”

“And in turn you let hundreds of thousands of people die. Every Huntsman you sent off could have saved countless settlements from Grimm. What you did… it’s a war crime.”

“Yes.” Leo shuddered as he looked past Qrow at the door. “You locked the door, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Rewarded as a traitor deserves, I see. So, I either die at the hands of you or the Grimm.”

Qrow didn’t respond for a moment. “What happened to you Leo? I remember the Huntsman who stared down a Goliath and drove it away. Now you’re just a shadow.” He shook his head and put away his weapon. “The police can deal with you. The Huntsmen you helped kill will get you the noose for sure. The surviving families will see to that. Meanwhile the rest of us will be left to clean up your mess.”

Leo stayed silent at that. Qrow scoffed and began to walk back to the door, the sound of the key sliding in echoing in the tight space. It also made the sound of cloth scrambling over wooden floor. He turned as Leo rose with his shield extended, Dust beginning to form on the end.

A shot rang out.

* * *

 

The battle was over. By the time Qrow came back out the rest of the enemy had fled. Raven had probably used her Semblance to flee back to Patch while Sustrai had made a giant hallucination of Salem, so the rest of the cabal could flee in the panic. Barring low Auras and a lot of bruises, they were alive, and Haven was still standing. It was nice to win for a change.

Qrow was perched on the roof, watching the relief efforts cleaning up the mess they’d left behind. A few Haven students had come in specially to help, including some blue-haired, smarmy-looking prick with blue hair that was getting along well with Belladonna’s friend. It was a near perfect victory, and yet Qrow felt bitter inside. He tried to shake it off as just his bitterness over Raven’s defection refusing to leave, but it ran deeper than that.

Leo was dead. He’d provoked Qrow into drawing first and firing even though Qrow’s Aura could afford to take the hit. Qrow didn’t know how to feel about it. On the one hand he was glad that Leo was dead and, judging by Yang’s comments about what went down in the vault, Cinder was feeding worms as well. Now the souls of those who died at Beacon and the Huntsmen Leo sold out could gain some traction of solace from beyond the grave. But the families of people like Heather Shields would never get that satisfaction, of seeing Leo receive the punishment he rightly deserved. Even if ultimately, his fate would have been settled behind closed doors to prevent Leo having a chance to tell anyone anything about Salem.

Even from beyond the grave, Leo was acting like a royal pain. Qrow sighed wearily, sipping from his flask. The sun was starting to set behind the mountains, orange rays slowly crawling across the courtyard and making the shadows look harsher than they were.

Nature was so goddamn cliché.

Placing the flask into his offhand, Qrow pulled out his scroll, rifling through a few photo albums. Some of these were years old, a few even dating back to the STRQ years- Qrow with Shiro Wan, three drinks into a drinking contest while Farrow Vaccaro and Aoi Rivas mediated. Heather Shields sleeping on a couch while Qrow held her little baby girl. Amethyst Kreiss could be seen in the background suppressing some of those squeaks she used to make.

And finally, a few of Amber. Some from their venture to a Halloween festival, a few Amber had asked Qrow to take and send to her scroll when she forgot it, including one of her posing with a potential paramour. The last one was from two days before she’d run off. Amber had fallen asleep under a tree with her cloak wrapped around her. She seemed genuinely pleased with how it came out- she hadn’t made a single sarcastic retort about it, though she did get back at him by taking a picture of Qrow draped over a bed, snoring.

Tilting the flask, Qrow poured most of its contents onto the ground below, most of it splattering onto dirt below. He swallowed a lump in his throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to save many of you, and I failed the one person I _was_ there for. I hope you find a peace up there that wasn’t provided here. I won’t scatter your sorrow to the heartless winds, for I will always carry it alongside my own sorrows.” Qrow took a swig. “And maybe put in a good word for me when it’s my turn to meet you up there- I’m gonna need all the help I can get.”

Perhaps it was just the mixture of pain and whiskey, but Qrow almost felt the wind tug at his cape. Below, a few leaves that had fallen already as Autumn set in scattered across the courtyard.

Qrow sat in silence for a spell, watching the sun rise higher into the sky. His thoughts were distracted by a quick flurry of rose petals. Ruby let out a tired groan as she sat beside him. “Hey.”

“Hey Petal.” He exhaled slowly. “Long night.”

“Yeah.” She groaned again. “I could sleep for a week after all that. And then I need to ask Ozpin about this whole…” She gestured to her eyes loosely. “whatever the heck my mom gave me.” 

“We’ll get a few days R&R for sure. Gonna need to find someone to take us to Atlas.” Qrow pointedly ignored the other thing that Ruby was talking about. Not many good memories lay down that path.

Ruby hummed softly in agreement. “They found Professor Lionheart.”

It was Qrow’s turn to hum.

“I saw you go after him while we took on Emerald and Mercury. Everything was so chaotic I couldn’t help you but…” Ruby hesitated. “They found Grimm residue in the air around him.”

“Yeah, there was a Grimm there. Nearly killed him before I came in.”

“But… he was shot. Qrow, did you-”

“Do you really want me to answer that question?” Qrow interrupted suddenly.

Ruby paused, looked down at her feet for a moment. “… No.”

“Then would you like a lie or the truth?”

“... Lie to me.” Ruby eventually said.

“Leo was cornered, and he knew it. He surrendered to the authorities but tried to escape custody... and he was shot in the pursuit.” The lie flowed easily.

Ruby rested her head on Qrow’s shoulder. “Was all this worth it? All the pain and death, will anything good come out of it?”

“… I don’t know Petal. But no sense regretting it, or else you might as well just give in to fear and never out of bed in the morning.” He got up slowly, pocketing his scroll and flask. “Come on, there’s beds with our names on them back at the safehouse.”

They left the roof, the dusty old crow accompanied by a flurry of petals that mixed with some of the feathers as they drifted off into the lazy morning breeze.

* * *

 

**Thanks for reading.**

 

 


End file.
